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Woodbridge Township is a township in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. The township is both a regional hub for Central New Jersey and a major bedroom suburb of New York City in the much larger New York Metropolitan Area, located within the core of the Raritan Valley region. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township had a total population of 99,585, reflecting an increase of 2,382 (+2.5%) from the 97,203 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 4,117 (+4.4%) from the 93,086 counted in the 1990 Census. Woodbridge was the seventh-most-populous municipality in New Jersey in the 2020 census, after being ranked sixth in 2000 and 2010. Woodbridge hosts the intersection of the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway, the two busiest highways in the state, and also serves as the headquarters for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.

According to Joshua Coffin, the early settlers included "Captain John Pike, the ancestor of General Zebulon Montgomery Pike, who was killed at the battle of Queenstown in 1813 Thomas Bloomfield, the ancestor of Joseph Bloomfield, some years governor of New Jersey, for whom the township of Bloomfield, New Jersey is named John Bishop, senior and junior Jonathan Haynes Henry Jaques George March Stephen Kent Abraham Toppan, junior Elisha Ilsley Hugh March John Bloomfield Samuel Moore Nathaniel Webster John Ilsley and others." Woodbridge was the site of the first gristmill in New Jersey. The mill was built by Jonathan Singletary Dunham (married to Mary Bloomfield, relative of Joseph Bloomfield).

History

The Township of Woodbridge is the oldest original township in New Jersey and was granted a royal charter on June 1, 1669, by King Charles II of England. It was reincorporated on October 31, 1693. Woodbridge Township was incorporated by the Township Act of 1798 of the New Jersey Legislature on February 21, 1798, as one of the initial 104 townships incorporated in the state under the Township Act. Portions of the township were taken to form Rahway (April 19, 1858), Raritan Township (March 17, 1870, now Edison Township) and Roosevelt (April 11, 1906, now Carteret). The township is named after Reverend John W. Woodbridge (1613–1696) of Newbury, Massachusetts, who settled in the future township in 1664.

Woodbridge was the site of one of America's deadliest rail accidents on February 6, 1951, when a crowded commuter train derailed with 85 deaths. The victims are memorialized by a pair of historical markers, installed by New Jersey Transit in 2002 and by Woodbridge Township in 2013.

In October 1982, Woodbridge made national news when, for the first time in the United States, local authorities enacted a measure under which people were banned from using the then-popular Sony Walkman cassette players in public, while riding a bike, crossing the street, or driving a car. Violators could be fined $50 and spend up to 15 days in jail. As of 2022, Section 3–10 of the township code bars the use of earphones and headphones by bicyclists, those driving vehicles and by pedestrians and joggers while on public streets.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 24.61 square miles (63.74  km² ), including 23.26 square miles (60.24  km² ) of land and 1.35 square miles (3.50  km² ) of water (5.50%).

The township borders Carteret, Edison, Perth Amboy and Sayreville in Middlesex County Clark, Linden and Rahway in Union County. Its border with the borough of Staten Island in New York City is in the Arthur Kill.

Area codes 732 and 848 are used in Woodbridge.

Climate

The township has a hot-summer humid continental climate (Dfa ) similar to most of metropolitan NE New Jersey. This borders a humid subtropical climate (Cfa ) in Port Reading near the Arthur Kill. The local hardiness zone is 7a.

Communities

There are distinct communities within Woodbridge Township. Several of these communities have their own ZIP Codes, and many are listed by the United States Census Bureau as census-designated places (CDPs), but they are all unincorporated communities and neighborhoods within the Township that, together, make up Woodbridge Township.

Avenel (with 2010 Census population of 17,011), Colonia (17,795), Fords (15,187), Iselin (18,695), Port Reading (3,728), Sewaren (2,756), Woodbridge or Woodbridge Proper (19,265) are census-designated places and unincorporated communities located within Woodbridge Township.

Other unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include: Boynton